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175 

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euben Gold Thwaites 

Bv Frederick Jackson Turner 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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bimlglil X" ■ <>y 



COnHICKT DKKISIT. 



REUBEN GOLD THWAITES 



Reuben Gold Thwaites 
^ iWemorial ^bbress 

By Frederick Jackson Turner 




Madison 

State Historical Society of Wisconsin 

1914 



■ 6" 



Copyright, 1914 

BY 

State Historical Society of Wisconsin 



MAY 29 1914 



R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY 
CHICAGO 



CI,A374270 



PREFACE 

EXERCISES commemorative of 
the services of Reuben Gold 
Thwaites were held in the Assem- 
bly Chamber in Madison on December 
19, 191 3, the Governor of Wisconsin, 
Francis E. McGovern presiding, and 
Frederick Jackson Turner delivering the 
address that is printed in this volume. 
The bibliography that accompanies the 
address has been prepared under the 
direction of the Committee of Curators 
having the memorial exercises in its 
charge: E. Ray Stevens, chairman, 
Carl Russell Fish, William A. P. Mor- 
ris, Dana C. Munro, Robert E. Sie- 
becker, and Frederic L. Paxson, sec- 
retary. 



CONTENTS 

Page 

Preface 5 

Reuben Gold Thwaites, by Fred- 
erick Jackson Turner ... 13 

Bibliography of the Writings of 
Reuben Gold Thwaites ... 63 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 

Reuben Gold Thwaites, 

MT. 55 . . . . . . Frontispiece 

The Corn Planter Medal, Award- 
ed BY THE Cayuga Historical 
Society 52 



A MEMORIAL ADDRESS 



REUBEN GOLD THWAITES 
a iMemorial ^btrres^fif 

By Frederick Jackson Turner 

ON October 22, 1913, the day 
before the annual meeting of 
the State Historical Society 
of Wisconsin, Reuben Gold Thwaites, 
its Superintendent, who for twenty- 
seven years had guided Its activities, 
passed from our midst. 

So abundant was his vitality, so 
buoyant his energy, so great, so endur- 
ing were his contributions to history, 
and so deep in our affections had he 
fixed himself, that it is almost impossi- 
ble to believe that we shall see him no 
more, no more rely upon his strong and 
gentle hand to guide the destinies of 
this Society, no more rejoice in the 
companionship of one of the most 
lovable spirits of our time. The heart 
aches at the loss. But he died In the 

[13I 



Reuben Gold Thwaites 

fullness of his powers: for him there 
was no long decay, no saddened realiza- 
tion of failing strength or dimming 
spirit for the work with which he was 
intrusted. 

"With a cheery smile and wave of 
the hand, 
He has wandered into an unknown 
land." 

Aptly quoted by the editor of Public 
Libraries in a notice of Dr. Thwaites's 
death. 

He had already paid in full the obli- 
gations of the scholar and the ad- 
ministrator. He did a man's work, 
and left an indelible impress not only 
on this Historical Society and the 
State of Wisconsin, but upon the 
historical activities of the nation. 
Even the briefest record of his life 
tells a story so rich in achievement, 
usefulness, and service that it is an 
inspiration. 

[14] 



A M e mo rial Address 

He was born In Dorchester, Mas- 
sachusetts, May 15, 1853, the son of 
William George and Sarah Bibbs 
Thwaites, natives of Yorkshire, Eng- 
land, who had come to Massachusetts 
three years before. His early school- 
ing* was at Dorchester, and in the fall 
of 1866 he came to Oshkosh, Wiscon- 
sin, where for six years he worked on 
the farm, taught school, and prepared 
himself in the studies usually pursued 
in the colleges of that period. Only a 
boy of unusual ability, initiative, and 
ambition could have carried out such 
a program. By 1872 he was on the 
staff of the Oshkosh Times, for which 
he reported the Democratic presi- 
dential convention in Baltimore that 
year. In 1874-75 he was a special 
student in Yale College, taking gradu- 
ate courses in English Literature, 
Economic History, and International 
Law. Among his instructors was 

[15] 



Reuben Gold T hw aite s 

William Graham Sumner, eminent In 
the field of economic history, historical 
biography, and sociology, who doubt- 
less Influenced this young student as he 
did so many others. While pursuing 
these studies young Thwaltes sup- 
ported himself In part by newspaper 
correspondence. Returning to Wis- 
consin, he removed to Madison and 
became. In 1876, managing editor of 
the Wisconsin State Journal, a leading 
organ of the Republican party under 
the editorship of David Atwood. For 
a time he also supplied a chain of 
prominent eastern newspapers with 
Wisconsin news. 

The necessary emphasis upon haste 
in a daily newspaper, often harmful 
to a writer, does not seem to have left 
its scars upon Mr. Thwaltes. Rather 
his conscientiousness, his natural ac- 
curacy combined with facility, and his 
efficiency In the organization of work, 

f 16I 



A Memorial Address 

turned this experience to his advantage. 
He learned how to think quickly and to 
act, how to condense, to select the 
essential, to watch with discriminating 
eye the play of the political forces 
about him, to study human nature 
intimately, and to report what he saw. 
As reporter of legislative proceedings 
and political conventions he acquired 
a wide acquaintance with the public 
men and journalists of the state which 
afterwards served him well in his task 
of popularizing the work of the Society 
and of securing legislative aid for its 
development. Moreover, he trained 
himself in the technique and art of 
typography, proof-reading, and print- 
ing, by actual contact with these 
phases of the printing office. He be- 
came an expert in the material making 
of a book, as the works which he after- 
wards edited amply illustrate. 

During this decade in which Mr. 

[17] 



Reuben Gold T hw aite s 

Thwaltes found in newspaper work the 
outlet for his energy, he by no means 
lost the scholar's fondness for books 
nor the literary taste which had been 
his from his early youth. Even while a 
newspaper reporter in Oshkosh he had 
shown historical interests, and as early 
as 1876 he published a sketch of the 
Indian Chief, Oshkosh, followed the 
next year by a history of Winnebago 
County, Wisconsin. He was one of 
the early members of the Madison 
Literary Club. His visits to the State 
Capitol, where the Historical Library 
was housed, often brought him into 
touch with Dr. Lyman C. Draper, that 
devoted man who watched like a 
father over the growth of the organiza- 
tion that he loved. Naturally shy and 
retiring, Draper could be bold and 
insistent for the Society, and it is one 
of the tributes to his insight that he 
recognized in this young editor a man 

[18] 



A Memorial Address 

of exceptional promise in the field of 
history and administration. 

So it happened that the veteran, 
anxious to complete the books for 
which he had been collecting material 
during his long life, picked out this 
young man of thirty-one as the man to 
train as his successor. In 1885 Mr. 
Thwaites began the work of Assistant 
Corresponding Secretary of the Society, 
and on January 6, 1887, Dr. Draper 
wrote his letter of resignation closing 
with these words: "It Is no small 
gratification to me to feel assured that 
the laboring oar of the Society's success 
will fall into hands so competent by his 
culture, his tastes, his industry, and 
his habits as the gentleman you have 
approved, and whom you will, I doubt 
not, choose as my successor. I ear- 
nestly entreat for him your confidence 
and encouragement, and devoutly 
pray the Good Father to spare him 

[19] 



Reuben Gold T hw aites 

many years, that he may honor him- 
self by faithful and successful labors 
for the Society." With this ''benedic- 
tion" from his predecessor Reuben 
Gold Thwaites began the great work 
of his life as the responsible executive 
officer of the State Historical Society 
of Wisconsin. Dr. Draper died four 
years later at the age of seventy-six, 
leaving to the Society the splendid 
results of his lifetime of collecting. 
He had done all that he could have 
done for this Society. It was a work 
of self-sacrificing devotion, the chop- 
ping of an historical clearing in the 
frontier state; it was more than that: 
his work had caused the Society to be 
recognized at home and abroad as the 
strongest in the West, and the Library 
had already become a noted one. But 
the times demanded a new man and 
new methods. 

In 1884, after the failure of Dr. 

[20] 



A M emorial Address 

Draper to secure an appropriation of 
fifty thousand dollars for an indepen- 
dent building, the Society had moved 
into new quarters in the recently con- 
structed South Wing of the Capitol. 
Disappointed, Dr. Draper had urged 
that the Society should seek private 
endowments in order that it might no 
longer be, as he said, "dependent 
upon or hampered by any alliance with 
the State," and in his final report in 
1887 he declared: "We need a large 
general fund, so as to cease being a 
pauper on the State treasury." 

It was at just about this time that 
the new tendencies appeared which 
finally brought fame to Wisconsin for 
its generosity and wisdom in supporting 
public institutions designed to lift the 
State to higher levels in all directions, 
intellectual as well as material. Not 
to have realized this opportunity can 
hardly be made a matter of reproach 

[21] 



Reuben Gold T hw aite s 

to Dr. Draper. It needed a younger 
man, with sympathy and insight into 
the great popular forces that were 
forming in those days, to perceive and 
take advantage of this ground swell. 
Even Mr. Thwaites for a few years 
adhered to the ideal of a Society based 
chiefly upon independent endowments, 
but he soon came to see that the glory 
and the greatest opportunity of the 
Society lay in its position as trustee 
of the State of Wisconsin for the pro- 
motion of historical studies. There- 
after he labored with the greatest 
effectiveness to make the Society 
worthy of its position as a State in- 
stitution, freed from spoils and political 
jobbery by being intrusted to a body 
of men devoted to the purpose for 
which it was founded, but nourished 
by the State and merging its fortunes 
with the fortunes of the State. 

In his first report Secretary Thwaites 

[22] 



A M emorial Address 

struck the keynote of his later work. 
The Society must be modernized, its 
Library must be given more ample 
room, for, as he declared, it would pass 
beyond the limits of its space within 
fifteen years. He noted also the in- 
creased State appropriations for issuing 
bibliographical lists of its treasures; 
the beginning of systematic card cata- 
loguing by the most modern methods 
in place of the outworn system of 
successive catalogue volumes; and the 
separation of the Collections and the 
Proceedings, reserving the former for 
historical material, and the latter for 
the Society's records and historical 
essays. This was a significant step, 
emphasizing the distinction between 
source material and the secondary use 
of it, but recognizing both as legitimate 
activities of the Society. The distinc- 
tion was more sharply drawn as suc- 
cessive issues appeared. 

Significant also was the fact that 

[23] 



Reuben Gold T hw aite s 

in his first report Secretary Thwaltes, 
so to speak, discovered the State 
University. He reported that the 
students formed the majority of the 
Society's readers. Before many years 
his statistics of attendance revealed 
the fact that they constituted ninety 
per cent of these readers, and that 
the reading room was inadequate to 
hold them. From the first he offered 
new facilities and greater freedom for 
their work. He opened a seminary 
room to the advanced students in 
American history, with full access to the 
stacks — an unheard of liberality among 
non-university libraries at that time. 

Perhaps I may be pardoned for 
here recording my own deep gratitude 
for this hospitality of Secretary 
Thwaites to the young instructor who 
led his little band of investigators to 
this seminary among the Library's col- 
lections; to him and to them it was the 

[24] 



A M emorial Address 

opening of a new life. From that be- 
ginning these students and their suc- 
cessors have sown Wisconsin's seed 
in universities throughout the Union 
— all of them bearing in their hearts 
affectionate remembrance of the open 
policy and helpful hospitality of this 
Society and of Reuben Gold Thwaites, 
the scholar who so generously welcomed 
young men to the career of scholars. 

Through the mass of University 
readers the Society was extending the 
influence to the whole State. It be- 
came more than a local center, for it 
made itself useful to what were, in 
effect, delegates from every county in 
the Commonwealth. As these young 
men returned to their homes and as 
they came to take part in the public 
life of the State they spread their ap- 
preciation of the services of the 
Society. From this friendly but en- 
tirely independent relationship of Soci- 

[25] 



Reuben Gold T hw aite s 

ety and University were to come ad- 
vantages not at first foreseen, and a 
continually closer relationship of the 
Society to the State. 

Nor was it the University students 
only to whom Mr. Thwaites extended 
his helping hand. In one of his early 
reports he noted the increasing interest 
in American history among the school- 
teachers of the State, and their at- 
tention to local history, in which he 
always had a keen interest. The 
pioneer era was passing away, and the 
memory of the pioneers and the history 
of the communities of the State would 
have to be confided to the coming 
generation. The Secretary welcomed 
the demands upon the Society for the 
volumes of its Collections by these 
schools and proposed the republication 
of the first ten volumes, embracing 
the period of Draper's secretaryship, 
for the first edition was already 

[261 



A M emorial Address 

insufficient to meet these new de- 
mands. 

Year after year as this response to 
popular interest grew, year after year 
as he stimulated and gave intelligent 
direction to this interest, he reported 
increasing evidences of friendly rela- 
tions with the State government, 
until the movement culminated in the 
erection of the noble building which 
since 1901 has housed this Society and 
the Library of the University of Wis- 
consin. In preparing the Society to 
accept this solution, in his study of 
other libraries and the incorporation 
of what was best into the interior 
architecture of the new building, and 
in the freedom and yet efficiency of his 
management of the Society's Library 
and the building, Dr. Thwaites con- 
tributed more effectively than has 
perhaps ever been clearly recognized 
to the creation of one of America's 

[27] 



Reuben Gold T hw aite s 

greatest historical workshops, a work- 
shop that is at the same time a monu- 
ment of American architecture. 

Of the yearly work of Dr. Thwaites 
for the Society It Is Impossible to speak 
in detail. Under his hands the pub- 
lished historical material became more 
systematic and complete. Knowing 
the archives in Europe as well as In 
America, he drew upon the stores of 
Canada, of Paris, and of London, to 
Illustrate the French period of Wis- 
consin's history. His persuasive in- 
sistence brought into the Library the 
materials for the foundations of Wis- 
consin's history from the old fur trad- 
ing regions of Fox River and Green 
Bay, Wisconsin River and Prairie du 
Chien, and the Mackinac center of 
that trade. He secured and published 
a mass of material on the Protestant 
missionaries to Wisconsin, on the early 
schools, the beginnings of mining, 

[28] 



A M emorial Address 

lumbering, and other early industries 
of the State, and on the foreign groups 
which transformed the Wisconsin of 
the Frenchman, the Southerner, the 
New Englander, and the New Yorker 
into the Wisconsin of to-day. Papers 
of political leaders, bankers, and pro- 
fessional men of all kinds came In- 
creaslngl}^ Into the Society's possession. 
Its interests were broadened and 
deepened In all directions. Gaps in Its 
Library were filled so that It became 
representative of all the great interests 
of American history in general and the 
Middle West in particular. The news- 
paper collections were systematized 
and opened Into new fields. In con- 
cert with University professors he 
welcomed to the Library its great col- 
lection of labor literature. To the 
pamphlet collections he added data 
exhibiting the activities of political 
parties, church organizations, and all 

[29] 



Reuben Gold T hw aite s 

the homely varied social activities that 
too often escape the notice of historical 
societies. His doctrine that the rub- 
bish of one generation may become 
the indispensable means of under- 
standing its civilization by a later 
generation led him to a catholicity of 
view the importance of which the 
future will attest. 

He visited remaining Wisconsin 
Indian tribes in their old homes, inter- 
viewed their chiefs, and incidentally 
was obliged to be host in his turn to 
delegation after delegation of these 
Indians, who, so to speak, camped out 
in the Society's rooms and claimed and 
received his personal largesse of board 
and small coin for days at a time. At 
his summer home in Turvillwood the 
gypsy Winnebago, up to a few years 
ago, still made annual hunting camps, 
and here he often talked with them. 
Thus he touched hands with the men of 

[30] 



A Memorial Address 

the Stone Age, fraternized with the 
survivors of the fur trade, with the 
pioneers, the poHticians, and the 
journaHsts of the day, with the men of 
affairs and the scholars. 

He issued circulars of instruction on 
the mode of organizing local historical 
societies, collecting materials, and build- 
ing up historical museums. He gave his 
hearty encouragement and co-operation 
to the modernizing of the museum into 
a valuable educational agency of the 
State. He prepared syllabuses of Wis- 
consin history for study clubs and 
schools, and lectured to communities 
all over the State. Now helping in 
person to form a local historical society, 
now giving an address at the dedication 
of some monument or the marking of 
some trail, and illuminating the annals 
of the locality by his own acquaintance 
with its antiquities and by his wider 
knowledge of the history of the State 

[31I 



Reuben Gold T hw aite s 

of which Its own history was a frag- 
ment, he strengthened in the localities 
the historic sense, and in the genuine 
Wisconsin spirit he made the Society's 
activity co-extensive with the State. 
Quoting with approval Woodrow Wil- 
son's remark, "The world's memory 
must be kept alive or we shall never see 
an end of its old mistakes," Reuben 
Gold Thwaites mediated between the 
Wisconsin of the past and the Wis- 
consin of the present. 

The Wisconsin Historical Society and 
its publications became a model looked 
up to by a multitude of western states. 
The systematic and accurate presenta- 
tion of the material in the ten volumes 
of the Collections which he edited; 
the twenty-six volumes of the Proceed- 
ings; the invaluable annotations drawn 
from the editor's own rich information 
and from the carefully organized stores 
of the Library; the scholarly papers of 

[32] 



A Memorial Address 

Dr. Thwaltes himself; the efficient 
contributions of the staff of historical 
assistants whom he trained and guided 
in their work; the care and wisdom with 
which he brought to the Society's 
annual meetings speakers both from 
Wisconsin and beyond Its borders, 
whose addresses set new models for 
historical study and suggested new 
fields of investigation — all this was 
the work of a really great organizer of 
historical industry. 

And how carefully he performed the 
fiscal duties of his office, bringing to 
the service of the Society day after 
day that minute and painstaking ac- 
curacy which he applied to his per- 
sonal business. No legislative investi- 
gation could ever find anything but 
praise for the financial records of the 
Society. He was efficient before the 
days of scientific management. He 
had the responsibility of the physical 

[33] 



Reuben Gold Thwaites 

care of a great library building and it 
became a model of good housekeeping. 
He supervised the purchase of books 
and all the operations of the Library 
itself, and he so husbanded its in- 
adequate funds that it grew from 
118,000 titles to 352,000, threefold 
what he found it. He brought its 
needs year after year to the attention 
of the State with such clarity of ex- 
position and such tactful dealing with 
men that it grew in the good-will of 
the legislators. 

Let us not do more than justice to 
Dr. Thwaites. He found in the State 
itself a ready response to the claims 
of history; he found among the able and 
unselfish leaders of the Historical Soci- 
ety helpful hands to smooth many a 
path and carry many a load — the 
ablest men in Wisconsin's public life 
were friends of the Society. He found 
support in the University. He found 

[34] 



A Memorial Address 

an enlightened appreciation in the 
legislature and the press. He found 
in his associates on the staff of the 
Society, who gladly merged their per- 
sonality in his, most loyal and efficient 
aid in his many-sided task. 

And yet, when all this is said, it re- 
mains that he found them, convinced 
them, trained them, led them, and 
retained their trust and aifection. 
With quick and sympathetic intuition 
he caught and utilized what was best 
in their suggestions and in them. 
With quiet, but none the less effective, 
skill and persuasiveness he bound them 
to himself for the service of the Society. 
He so organized these forces that men 
and women saw in him their natural 
leader and helpful friend for securing 
the results in which all were interested. 
Such gifts of administration are as 
rare as they are important. 

His ability and breadth of interest, 

[35] 



Reuben Gold Thwaites 

his broad humanity, caused other 
agencies for pubHc good to enHst his 
aid, for it is the busy man who is 
appealed to for effective work. He was 
an active member and vice-president 
of the influential Free Library Com- 
mission, and in many ways he helped 
to broaden the usefulness of the State 
Historical Library, to spread libraries 
throughout the State, and to promote 
efficiency in the training of librarians. 
He was secretary and editor of the 
Wisconsin History Commission, which 
under authority of the State has al- 
ready published nine volumes of valu- 
able original papers and reprints on 
Wisconsin's part in the Civil War, 
with a tenth in press. All of these 
manuscripts passed under his careful 
editorship. He was lecturer in His- 
tory in the University of Wisconsin, 
and for several years an extension lec- 
turer for the same institution. 

[36] 



A Memorial Address 

He wrote the standard history of 
Wisconsin, the history of the Univer- 
sity, the history of Madison, the history 
of his lodge, the record of the Madison 
Literary Club. He was active in the 
service of the City Hospital, the Uni- 
versity Club, the Madison Art 
Association, and the Unitarian Church, 
and in his will he remembered 
the hospital and the church and most 
generously left a tithe of his estate to 
this Society. Had Dr. Thwaites done 
no more in his busy life but what he 
did directly by his work for this Society 
and for the State of Wisconsin he would 
have made an enduring place for him- 
self, and would have more than repaid 
all that Wisconsin had done for him. 

Thus, ineffectively and incompletely, 
I have tried to bring before you the 
work of Reuben Gold Thwaites of 
Wisconsin. It was in itself a full life; 
but, ladies and gentlemen, there was 

[37I 



Reuben Gold T hw aite s 

also a Reuben Gold Thwaites of the 
United States. Let us turn briefly 
to consider our friend and colleague in 
this wider aspect of his work as man 
of letters, librarian, historical editor, 
and historian. A rapid survey of the 
successive periods of his life from this 
point of view is all that is possible on 
this occasion. 

In 1884 and again in 1885 Dr. 
Thwaites visited New Mexico and 
Colorado and had some idea of estab- 
lishing a newspaper in this New South- 
west. Indeed he proposed to me, then 
just out of college, that I should join 
in the enterprise, and he painted the 
life of the cattle region and the profit 
of advertising cattle brands in such 
terms as have always left a doubt 
whether it was not a golden opportu- 
nity lost! But upon his selection as 
Secretary of the Society, Dr. Thwaites 
began a course in the rereading of 

[38] 



A Memorial Address 

Parkman's Vv^orks, visited Canada, and 
in the summer of 1888 canoed down 
the Rock, the Fox, and the Wisconsin, 
and wove into a Hght but charming 
narrative the history of these rivers 
with his own observations of scenes 
and men along them. The next year 
appeared his Historic Waterways, in 
which he printed this experience, and 
the summer found him again in Canada 
and the eastern cities. 

In 1890 his iirst history of Wiscon- 
sin came from his pen, under the title 
The Story of Wisconsin. In the succeed- 
ing year he published a brief history of 
The Colonies, the first volume of a series 
in which Woodrow Wilson and Pro- 
fessor Hart, of Harvard, were his 
co-workers, and this excellent manual 
became so widely used as a text for 
colleges that its author gained a reputa- 
tion beyond his State. In the summer 
of the year of its appearance he 

[39] 



Reuben Gold Thwaites 

traveled in Europe, studying libraries 
and archives there and writing his 
graphic and readable little book, Our 
Cycling Tour in England. In 1894 he 
took another canoe voyage, this time 
down the Ohio, the results of which 
appeared in his Afloat on the Ohio, re- 
published as The Storied Ohio. In 
preparation he read most of the pre- 
vious travels on this famous river from 
the early days. As he tells us, his 
purpose was to gather "local color," to 
''see with his own eyes what the bor- 
derers saw; in imagination to redress 
the pioneer stage and to repeople it." 
For .all of its freightage of history the 
little craft floated lightly and captivat- 
ingly; the voyager painted with loving 
and skillful touch the scenery, described 
with his quick appreciation, wit, and 
human sympathy the life and conversa- 
tion of the dwellers along the river, and 
at the same time Interested his readers 

[40] 



A Memorial Address 



in the daily experiences of his little 
band of contemporaneous explorers. 

This trip illustrated much that was 
fundamental in Dr. Thwaites's char- 
acter and work. He based his history 
firmly on a knowledge of the geography 
of the country, and he was a minute 
and conscientious observer of nature. 
He saw his characters, not as lay fig- 
ures, but vividly and dramatically as 
real people. He had an unusual ap- 
preciation of the humorous and a knack 
for keen but kindly characterization. 
When he told a story he was at once 
the center of an interested and de- 
lighted group, for it was a work of 
art, the result of psychological ap- 
preciation, of sympathetic and lively 
interest in his fellow-man. He had 
the gift of dramatic narrative. 

Moreover, he believed that the his- 
torian should bring to his work an ap- 
preciation of the romance in history. 



41 



Reuben Gold T hw aite s 

As expert in editing as the most tech- 
nical and dry-as-dust of his brethren, 
he never read a document or penned a 
note that he did not see the picturesque, 
the human scene behind the bare 
record ; ever behind the document there 
was the pageant. He faithfully gath- 
ered the often dreary and dismal rec- 
ords of fur trader and explorer and 
presented them in well ordered and 
scientifically edited volumes. But 
when all is done, he writes: ''Piled 
high with bales of peltries, and pro- 
pelled by gaily appareled savages and 
voyageurs, with black-robed priests 
for passengers, the flotillas swept down 
the broad rivers in rude procession, 
paddles flashing in the sun, the air 
rent with barbaric yells and the roaring 
quaver of merry boating songs." The 
history of institutions, of industrial 
development of laws and governments, 
appealed to him less than the history 

[42I 



A Memorial Address 

of individual achievement. The nar- 
rative of action and the documents on 
which it was based gained his most 
loving attention. 

In 1895 appeared the edition of 
Withers' Border Warfare, under the 
editorship of Draper and Thwaites, a 
valuable repository for the historian, 
enriched by Dr. Thwaites from his own 
learning as well as from Dr. Draper's 
treasure-house. Had Thwaites been 
content to follow in the footsteps of 
his predecessor, utilizing his collections 
and editing the mass of material on the 
Revolutionary era, he would have 
found ample opportunity and apprecia- 
tion for his work. But he was too 
independent to limit his activity to 
this task. In the end his interests 
turned to earlier periods and to ex- 
ploration rather than to border war- 
fare 

In the years between 1896 and 1901 

[43] 



Reuben Gold T hw aite s 

he published his monumental edition 
of the Jesuit Relations in seventy-three 
volumes. His reviewer in the Amer- 
ican Historical Review declared that 
it would "mark an epoch in the his- 
torical literature of North America 
because of the abundance and value of 
the documents reproduced and the 
vast erudition utilized by the editorial 
staff." The editor gathered about 
him a band of skilled transcribers, 
proof-readers, translators, local anti- 
quarians, and bibliographers. He 
gained the co-operation and trust of 
the most eminent Catholic authorities 
on the subject, visiting Canada and, in 
1897, Italy to this end; he added greatly 
to the existing sources on the work of 
these devoted missionaries in America; 
and produced what will probably be 
the definitive edition of the Relations — 
the invaluable monumenta of American 
exploration in the era of New France. 

[44] 



A Memorial Address 



Among the most useful features of 
this work was its classified index, 
extensive in its scale, and accurate in its 
treatment. For the first time was the 
American library method applied on a 
large scale to the service of the his- 
torian. To his associate editor, the 
late Miss Emma Helen Blair, Dr. 
Thwaites gave generous praise for 
efficient aid in editing this great work. 

Thus, during the period of the cam- 
paign for the new library building and 
the years of its erection. Dr. Thwaites 
had given to the world an enduring 
evidence of his scholarship and organiz- 
ing power, and had brought to the 
Society a renown which extended to the 
Old World. 

After the completion of the Relations 
there followed from his busy pen a 
series of volumes, including well written 
and scholarly biographies of Marquette 
and Daniel Boone, a reprint of Henne- 



45 



Reuben Gold T hw aite s 

pin, and a volume of historical essays 
under the title, How George Rogers 
Clark Won the Northwest, 

In 1904, following a trip to Yellow- 
stone Park, he issued his Rocky Moun- 
tain Exploration, a book which pre- 
pared the way for two other monu- 
mental publications which appeared 
in the years between 1904 and 1907. 
These were the first edition of the 
Original Journals of Lewis and Clark 
in eight volumes, and reprints of 
Early Western Travels in thirty-two 
volumes. Of these works I may not 
speak at length. In the former, Dr. 
Thwaites met and conquered dif- 
ficulties in a way that proved him an 
editor of the very first rank. He 
ferreted out from their concealment 
missing documents necessary to com- 
plete the journals; deciphered the dif- 
ficult writing and spelling of these his- 
toric frontiersmen, who first crossed 

[46] 



A Memorial Address 



the continent within the Hmits of the 
present United States; mastered the 
problem of correlating and printing the 
several journals of the expedition; 
drew upon all of his resources of 
typographic and editorial skill to give 
an absolutely faithful reproduction of 
the originals; enriched them with a 
wealth of historical and geographical 
annotation; and contributed a mono- 
graphic introduction setting forth the 
development and historic significance 
of this epic of American transcontinen- 
tal exploration. 

In his reprints of Early Western 
Travels his skill in annotation was 
again revealed; but perhaps the most 
important contribution of Dr. Thwaites 
in this series was the exceedingly com- 
plete and well analyzed index which 
opened to the historical student the 
wealth of information which was con- 
tained in these accounts of travelers, 

147] 



Reuben Gold Thwaites 

who in the years between 1748 and 
1846 pushed westward until their later 
representatives reached the far North- 
west and the far Southwest. Not 
only were many of these travels rare, 
but they had never before been brought 
together by means of an adequate 
index for the service of the economic 
and social historian. Together they 
present a picture of the irresistible tide 
of American settlement flowing into the 
wilderness, of societies forming in the 
forests, of cities evolving almost under 
our gaze as we see them through the eyes 
of these travelers in successive years. 

As America grows older, more and 
more it exhibits a tendency to turn 
back to the heroic age of its explorers 
and pioneers. In historical pageants, 
mural decorations, sculpture, poetry, 
in all the aesthetic use of historic 
symbols may be seen this growing ap- 
preciation by the nation of its remoter 

[48I 



A Memorial Address 



past. By these editions of the Jesuit 
Relations (the early sources of the 
history of Canada and the Middle 
West), Lewis and Clark (the historical 
fountain for the states between the 
Missouri and the Northwest Coast), and 
the Early Western Travels, Dr. Thwaites 
made himself the editorial authority 
to whose sources the student must turn 
if he would study this stage of 
American development. 

And while Dr. Thwaites issued these 
works he also gave to the world his 
useful resume in the Am^erican Nation 
Series of France in America, and his 
edition of Lahontan. With the assist- 
ance of Dr. Louise Kellogg he issued 
in later years volumes of valuable 
annotated documents from the Draper 
manuscripts and other sources entitled 
Lord Dunmore's War, The Revolution 
on the Upper Ohio, and Frontier Defense 
on the Upper Ohio. 

[49] 



Reuben Gold T hw aite s 

In 1909 he published his excellent 
History of Wisconsin in the American 
Commonwealth Series, and in 191 2, 
with the collaboration of Superinten- 
dent Kendall, a School History of the 
United States. 

I am informed by Miss Nunns, long 
his right hand in administration, that 
when death removed him he was plan- 
ning to begin work on the history of the 
fur trade, a subject for which no man 
was better fitted, and that he intended 
to widen the collections in the field of 
that far Southwest to which as a young 
man he had thought of removing. 

Often in his reports Dr. Thwaites 
called the attention of the Society to 
the importance of keeping in touch 
with sister institutions in other parts 
of the country and particularly with 
the great national associations de- 
voted to history and to library manage- 
ment. He himself regularly attended 

[50] 



A Memorial Address 

these associations, and in 1900, the 
year of the completion of the library- 
building, he was honored by the pres- 
idency of the American Library Asso- 
ciation and was made chairman of 
the Historical Manuscripts Commission 
of the American Historical Association. 
Four years later he became a member of 
the Council of the latter Association. 
In many ways he was one of the most 
important contributors to its activities, 
and particularly in fostering the rela- 
tions between the Association and 
state-supported historical societies sim- 
ilar to that of Wisconsin. 

To many state and local historical 
societies in various quarters of the 
Union he was called to lecture on the 
early history of the West, or to describe 
Wisconsin's method of fostering his- 
torical studies throughout the State. 
He became an envoy extraordinary 
to other states to extend Wisconsin's 

[51] 



Reuben Gold T hw aite s 

influence. The University of Cali- 
fornia called him to lecture at its 
summer session, and again to report 
on the value of the Bancroft Collection 
of sources on the history of the Rocky 
Mountain and Pacific states. Follow- 
ing his advice, California acquired this 
noble collection, thus making Berkeley 
the center for the study of that vast 
section, as Madison is for the Alleghany 
Mountains and the Mississippi Valley. 
He lectured also in Oregon, where he 
was welcomed as the editor of the 
sources of the early history of the 
Pacific Northwest. He represented 
the American Historical Association 
and delivered one of the leading ad- 
dresses in Annapolis at the Canadian 
celebration of the anniversary of the 
settlement of the Annapolis Basin. 
In the East he was made a member of 
the American Antiquarian Society, to 
whose publications he contributed a 

[52] 






^/ 




A Memorial Address 

scholarly paper on the early press of 
the Ohio Valley, and he was honored 
with membership in the ancient Mas- 
sachusetts Historical Society. In the 
West the Mississippi Valley Historical 
Association made him its president 
in 191 2. Already Wisconsin at its 
jubilee celebration had given him the 
honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. 

In the course of a little over a 
quarter of a century, Dr. Thwaites 
wrote some fifteen books and edited 
and published about one hundred and 
sixty-eight additional volumes. To 
this total of one hundred and eighty- 
three volumes, which makes an average 
of about seven for each year, should be 
added something like one hundred 
articles and addresses. Of course his 
worth is not to be tested by the num- 
ber of volumes — most of these wxre 
annotated or reprinted collections of 
documents; but to have been the re- 

[53] 



Reuben Gold T hw aite s 

sponsible editor for so great and so 
substantial an historical output, while 
carrying arduous administrative duties, 
Implies an activity beyond the power 
of most men of letters and science. 

Looking back over his record of 
achievement, considering these ex- 
tensive and scholarly contributions to 
American history, which compelled 
the recognition and respect of his 
associates throughout the United 
States, one cannot fail to see how pro- 
foundly important all this was to the 
State Historical Society of Wisconsin. 
When Dr. Thwaites published a docu- 
ment, made an annotation, addressed 
a local historical society, dedicated a 
monument, or marked a trail in the 
State, he did It with that fullness of 
knowledge, that large recognition of 
the significance of his subject, which 
came from an extensive and thorough 
study of the whole process ofexplora- 

[54] 



A Memorial Address 



tion and pioneering in the United 
States. The forces of American his- 
tory flowed through the history of the 
locality and the State when he spoke. 

He brought to the altar of this So- 
ciety his laurels from the nation. They 
were laurels of love for the man as well 
as tributes to the scholar's worth. 
When he died, this note of affection 
was struck not only by the country 
press from many a Wisconsin town, 
not only by the city press of the 
Northwest, but in publications and 
letters from all over the United 
States. 

At a recent meeting of members of 
the Council of the American Historical 
Association a letter was drawn up and 
signed by men among the most dis- 
tinguished in the historical activities 
of the nation, expressing in the sincerest 
and warmest terms their sense of 
personal loss, their love and admiration 

[55] 



Reuben Gold T hzu aite s 

for Dr. Thwaltes as a man and as an 
historical scholar. 

Short in stature, but with a com- 
pelling personality, his cheery, winning 
spirit shining out behind his twinkling 
eyes, always ready with a joke or a 
story that impressed a point upon his 
hearers; alert, decisive, receptive, help- 
ful, a man of honor and of character, 
active in the Unitarian Church and 
respected and trusted by the Catholic 
clergy; an author whose style was 
graphic, lively, and so carefully dis- 
ciplined that it concealed the care 
with which he worked out each sen- 
tence; a writer with imagination, a 
conscientious scholar, and a man of 
affairs, Dr. Thwaites combined in 
himself most unusual qualities. 

He was married in 1882 to Miss 
Jessie Turvill, and to them was born 
a son, Fredrik T. On most of his 
happy summer outings where travel 

[56] 



A M emorial Address 



was both recreation and the search for 
new material, he was accompanied by 
his family. In their companionship he 
found a happiness that remained with 
him through life. 

Wherever he went, whether among 
the Indians of Wisconsin or of the Ari- 
zona Pueblos, the French fur traders, or 
the scholars of the great national asso- 
ciations, he was greeted with a quick 
recognition that here was a rare man, a 
man to be welcomed as a friend. We 
who lived in daily contact with him may 
not have known how wide was the circle 
of his friends, for he disliked to talk of 
himself and of his achievements. But 
we know how richly he deserved that 
friendship, for we who saw him at his 
daily work, who knew him in his home, 
we, too, leaned on him, trusted him, 
and loved him. 

This Society has been fortunate in 
the length of service of its great execu- 

[57I 



Reuben Gold T hw aite s 

live officers. Draper and Thwaites 
span the whole active life of the Society, 
which is nearly as old as the state 
itself. If we consider the years 
of Dr. Draper's superintendency of 
public instruction and of the Civil 
War, during which the publications of 
the Society were suspended, each of 
these men gave to the Society about 
the same length of service, substantially 
a generation. Draper was the founder; 
Thwaites was the great historical 
editor and modernizer, the builder of 
a new type of state historical society. 

In the years to come, on the basis of 
the structure they reared, this Society 
will become increasingly the home of 
historical students. Here are the 
priceless materials for the history of 
that vast Middle West, whose ideals 
are shaping the nation. To under- 
stand the economic, political, and 
social development that followed the 

[58] 



A M emorial Address 

era of explorer and pioneer requires 
the work of many students and will 
extend into later generations. Other 
men will succeed to Dr. Thwaltes's 
ofhce and, If they do their full duty, 
mindful of his example, they will open 
new avenues of progress to this Society 
and will explore new fields of history. 
Happy, thrice happy, they. If In the 
times to come their names shall be 
spoken with the respect and the affec- 
tion with which we speak the name of 
Reuben Gold Thwaltes. 



59 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Afloat on the Ohio: an Historical 
Pilgrimage of a Thousand Miles in 
a Skiff, from Redstone to Cairo. 
Chicago, 1897. xiv, 334?. 

Republished, New York, 1900. xiv, 334?. 
Revised edition, 1903, has title: On the 
Storied Ohio: an Historical Pilgrimage of a 
Thousand Miles in a Skiff, from Redstone to 
Cairo. 

Annotated Catalogue of Newspaper 
Files in the Library of the Society. 
Prepared under the editorial direc- 
tion of Reuben G. Thwaites and 
Isaac S. Bradley, by Emma PL Blair. 
Madison, Wis., 1898. xii, 375p. 

Second edition [prepared under the edi- 
torial direction of Reuben G. Thwaites], 
by Ada T. Griswold. Madison, Wis., 1911. 
xii, S9ip. 

Annual Address before the Illinois 
State Historical Society, at Spring- 
field January 30, 1901. (In Illinois 
Historical Society Transactions, 
1901, pp. 19-25-) 

[63 1 



Reuben Gold T hw aite s 

Apprenticeship as a Means of Library 
Training. (In Library Journal, xxiii, 
1898, pp. 83, 84.) 

Arguments for a Joint Library Build- 
ing for the State Historical Society 
and the State University. Madison, 
Wis., 1895. 26p. 

At the Meeting of the Trails: the 
Romance of a Parish Register. (In 
Mississippi Valley Historical Asso- 
ciation Proceedings, vi, 19 12-13, pp. 
198-217.) 

Based upon the Mackinac Register, as 
published in the Wisconsin Historical Col- 
lections, xviii, xix, 1907-10. 

The Bancroft Library: a Report 
Submitted to the President and 
Regents of the University of Cali- 
fornia. . . Nov. 14, 1905. Berke- 
ley, Cal., 1905. 2op. 

Bibliography of Wisconsin Authors; 
being a List of Books and other 
Publications, Written by Wisconsin 
Authors, in the Library of the 
Society. Prepared under the direc- 

[64] 



Bibliography 



tion of Reuben Gold Thwaites and 
Isaac S. Bradley, by Emma A. 
Hawley. Madison, Wis., 1893. viii, 
263P. 

The Black Hawk War. (In Magazine 
of Western History, v, 1886-87, pp. 
32-45, 181-196.) 

The Boundaries of Wisconsin; with 
a General Historical Survey of the 
Division of the Northwest Territory 
into States. (In Wisconsin Historical 
Collections, xi, 1888, pp. 451-501.) 

Reprinted, Madison, Wis., 1888, pp. 451- 
501. This narrative is republished as chap, 
ii, "The Division of the Northwest into 
States," in How George Rogers Clark Won 
the Northwest. 

A Brief Description of the State 
Historical Library Building at Madi- 
son, Wisconsin. Madison, Wis., 
August, 1906. i6p. (Wisconsin 
Historical Society Handbook Series, 
no. I.) 
Second edition, April, 191 1. I3p. 

[65 1 



Reuben Gold Thwaites 

A Brief History of Rocky Mountain 
Exploration, with Especial Reference 
to the Expedition of Lewis and 
Clark. New York, 1904. ix, 276p. 
(Appleton's Expansion of the Re- 
public Series.) 

Bulletins of Information, State His- 
torical Society of Wisconsin, nos. 
1-70, 1894-1913. 

Edited by R. G. Thwaites. 

Chronicles of Border Warfare; or, 
A History of the Settlement by the 
Whites, of North-western Virginia, 
and of the Indian Wars and Massa- 
cres in that Section of the State, 
with Reflections, Anecdotes, &c., by 
Alexander Scott Withers, New edi- 
tion. Cincinnati, O., 1895. 447p. 

Edited by R. G. Thwaites. 
This edition was projected and partly 
finished by Lyman C. Draper. At the 
time of his death, he had prepared notes 
for about one-fourth of the book and had 
written his "Memoir of the Author." 

[661 



Bibliography 



Chronological History of Wisconsin. 
(In Wisconsin Blue Book, 1909, pp. 
848-871.) 

Reprinted, Madison, Wis., 1909, pp. 848- 
871. And also in various editions of the 
Blue Book, from 1899 to 191 3. 

Cleveland to Mackinaw: Historical 
Data on A. L. A. Post Conference 
Trip. (In American Library Asso- 
ciation Eighteenth General Con- 
ference, Preliminary Papers, Pro- 
gram and Itinerary, 1896, pp. 4-1 1.) 

The Colonies, 1492-1750. Neif 
York, 1891. xviii, 30ip. (Epochs 
of American History; ed. by Albert 
Bushnell Hart.) 

First edition, December, 1890; reprinted, 
September, 1891; February, 1892 (revised); 
January and August, 1893; December, 
1893 (revised); August, 1894; October, 
1895; July, 1896; August, 1897 (revised); 
November, 1897; July, 1898; July, 1899; 
April, 1900; January, 1901; October, 1901; 
August, 1902; November, 1902; October, 
1904; September, 1906; May, 1908; June, 
1910 (revised). 

[67] 



Reuben Gold T hw aite s 

The Colonists and the Indians. (In 
Stepping-stones of American History 
[1904], pp. 151-171.) 
Based upon The Colonies, i4.g2-iy^o. 

Cyrus Hall McCormick and the 
Reaper. (In Wisconsin Historical 
Society Proceedings^ 1908, pp. 234- 

259-) 

Reprinted, Madison, Wis. 1909. pp. 234- 

259. 

Daniel Boone. New York, 1902. 
XV, 257p. (Appleton's Life His- 
tories.) 

David Atwood. (In Wisconsin His- 
torical Society Proceedings^ 1890, pp. 
101-113.) 

Republished, with a few changes, from 
"General David Atwood," in Magazine of 
Western History, v, 1886-87, PP- 549-5^5 • 

A Day on Braddock's Road. (In New 
England Magazine, n.s. xv, 1896-97, 
pp. 299-308.) 

This narrative was reprinted, with same 
title, as chap, vi, in How George Rogers 
Clark Won the Northwest. 

[68 1 



Bibliography 



Descriptive Handbook: the State 
Historical Society of Wisconsin. 
Madison, Wis., May, 1907. i8p. 
(Wisconsin Historical Society Hand- 
book Series, no. 2.) 

Second edition, Dec, 1908. l8p. Third 
edition, June, 191 1. 20p. 

Descriptive List of Manuscript Col- 
lections of the State Historical Soci- 
ety of Wisconsin; together with 
Reports on other Collections of Man- 
uscript Material for American His- 
tory in Adjacent States. Madison, 
Wis., 1906. viii, I97p. 
Edited by R. G. Thwaites. 

Directories in Public Reference 
Libraries. (In Library Journal, xx, 
1895, PP- 341, 342.) 

Down Historic Waterways : Six Hun- 
dred Allies of Canoeing upon Illinois 
and Wisconsin Rivers. Chicago, 
1902. 300p. 

Second edition, revised, of Historic Water- 
ways: Six Hundred Miles of Canoeing dozen 
the Rock, Fox, and Wisconsin Rivers. 



69 



Reuben Gold Thwaites 

Draper Series. A/[adison & Oshkosh, 
Wis., 1905-12. 3v. 

Edited jointly with Louise Phelps Kellogg. 
(i) Documentary History of Dunmore's 
War, 1774. 1905. (2) The Revolution on 
the Upper Ohio, 1775-1777. 1908. (3) 
Frontier Defense on the Upper Ohio, 1777— 
1778. 1912. Compiled from the Draper 
Manuscripts in the library of the Wisconsin 
Historical Society, and printed at the charge 
of the Wisconsin Society of the Sons of the 
American Revolution. 

Early Lead-mining in Illinois and 
Wisconsin. (In American Historical 
Association Annual Report, 1893, 
pp. 191-196.) 

Early Schools in Wisconsin. (In 
Stearns, J. W. (ed), The Columbian 
History of Education in Wisconsin, 
1893, pp.>8-83.) 

Early Western Travels, 1 748-1 846: 
a Series of Annotated Reprints of 
Some of the Best and Rarest Con- 
temporary Volumes of Travel, De- 
scriptive of the Aborigines and Social 
and Economic Conditions in the 

[70] 



Bibliography 



Middle and Far West, During the 
Period of Early American Settle- 
ment. Cleveland, 1904-06. 30V. 
Edited by R. G. Thwaites. 

The Evolution of Wisconsin. (In 
Wisconsin Blue Book, 1909, pp. 845- 

847.) 

Reprinted, Madison, Wis., 1909. pp. 845- 
847; reprinted in various editions of the 
Blue Book, from 1899 to 191 3. 

Father Marquette. New York, 1902. 
XV, 244p. (Appleton's Life Histories.) 

The First Library in the Northwest. 
(In Library Journal, xx, 1895, p. 382.) 

Republished on pp. 100, loi, chap, ix, in 
Afloat on the Ohio, 1897. 

For a Parcels-post. (In Nation, xc, 
1910, p. 345.) 

France in America, 1497-1763. New 
York, 1905. xxi, 320p. (The Ameri- 
can Nation: a Llistory; ed. by Al- 
bert Bushnell Hart.) 

[71] 



Reuben Gold Thwaites 

Gathering Materials for Local His- 
tory. (In Wisconsin Historical 
Society Proceedings, 1896, pp. 50- 

52.)^ 

Reprinted with title: "The Gathering of 
Local History Materials, by Public Li- 
braries." Madison, Wis., December, 1896. 
3p. (Wisconsin Historical Society Bulletin 
of Information, no. 7). {Same), Synopsis of 
Speech at Meeting of the Wisconsin Li- 
brary Association at Ashland, November 
13, 1896. (In Library Journal, xxii, 1897, 
p. 82). {Same), Reprint, revised. Madi- 
son, Wis., September, 1905, 3p. (Wis- 
consin Historical Society Bulletin of Infor- 
mation, no. 25.) 

General David Atwood. (In Maga- 
zine of Western History, v, 1886-87, 

PP- 549-565.) 

Reprinted with title: Biographical Sketch 
of David Atwood. Madison, Wis., 1887. 
37p. Again, as "General Atwood Dead." 
(In State Journal, Madison, Wis., December 
12, 1889.) 

Geography of Wisconsin. (In Red- 
way, J. W. & Hinman, Russell, 
Natural advanced geography [1898] 
[Supp.] pp. 10-16.) 

[72] 



Bibliography 



George Rogers Clark, the Western 
Hero of the Revolution: lecture 
delivered in the Hall of Philosophy, 
July 14, 1898. (In Chautauqua As- 
sembly Herald, July 22, 1898.) 

The Great River. H. Indian Days. 
III. The Upper Mississippi during 
the French Regime. (In World To- 
day, vi, 1904, pp. 184-192, 383-391-) 

Greetings of the American Historical 
Association to the Nova Scotia His- 
torical Society, at the De Monts 
Tercentenary, June 21, 1904. (In 

Canadian Magazine, xxiii, 1904, pp. 

330-332.) 

Reprinted, Toronto, 1904. 5p. 

Handbooks, State Historical Society 
of Wisconsin, nos. 1-7, 1906-13. 
Edited by R. G. Thwaites. 

Historic Camp Randall. (In Daily 
Cardinal, University of Wisconsin, 
Madison, December 19, 1901.) 

Historic Waterways: Six Hundred 
Miles of Canoeing down the Rock, 

[73] 



Reuben Gold T hw aite s 

Fox, and Wisconsin Rivers. Chicago, 
1888. 298P. 

Second edition has title: Down Historic 
Waterways: Six Hundred Miles of Canoeing 
upon Ulinois and Wisconsin Rivers. 

Historical Outline of the Admission 
of Wisconsin to the Union. (In 
Casson, Henry (ed.), Constitution of 
the State of Wisconsin, 1898, pp. 3-8.) 

Reprinted in 1909 Edition of the Blue Book 
[Madison, Wis., 1909], pp. 17-20, and in 
various editions of the Blue Book, from 1899 
to 1913. 

Historical Sketch of the Public 
Schools of Madison, Wisconsin, 
1838-85. Madison, Wis., 1886. 
84p. 

Abridged and brought down to 1893, with 
title: "The Public Schools of Madison." 
(In Stearns, J. W. (ed.), Columbian History 
of Education in Wisconsin, 1893, pp. 479- 
495-) 

The Historical Society: its Relation 
to the People of the State. (In 
Madison Times, February 14, 1893.) 

[74] 



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History: a Selection from its Litera- 
ture. (In Leypoldt, A. H., & lies, 
George (eds.), List of Books for 
Girls and Women and their Clubs, 
1895, pp. 47-54-) 

A History of the United States for 
Grammar Schools. Boston [1912], 
xvii, 471, Hip. 
Joint author with Calvin Noyes Kendall. 

History of the University of Wiscon- 
sin. (In Thwaites, R. G. ^ (ed.), 

The University of Wisconsin, its 
History and its Alumni, 1900, pp. 

43-75-) 
How George Rogers Clark Won the 
Northwest, and Other Essays in 
Western History. Chicago, 1903. 
XX, 378p. 

Revised and much enlarged from George 
Rogers Clark, the Western Hero of the Revolu- 



tion. 



The Jesuit Relations and Allied Docu- 
ments: Travels and Explorations 
of the Jesuit Missionaries in New 
France, 1610-1791; the Original 



Reuben Gold Thwaites 

French, Latin and Italian Texts, 
with English Translations and Notes. 
Cleveland, 1 896-1901. 73V. 
Edited by R. G. Thwaites. 

Landmarks in Wisconsin. Madison, 
Wis., June, 1906. 7p. (Wisconsin 
Historical Society Bulletin of Infor- 
mation, no. 30.) 

Letter of Admiral Farragut, 1853. 
(In American Historical Review, ix, 
1903-04, pp. 537-541-) 

A Letter of Marshall to Jefferson, 
1783. (In American Historical Re- 
view, X, 1905, pp. 815-817.) 
Reprinted n.p. [1905] [3p,] 

A Letter to the People of Wisconsin, 
Relative to the Several Proposed 
State and County Semi-centennial 
Observances, Madison, Wis., Novem- 
ber, 1897. ip. no title. (Wisconsin 
Historical Society Bulletin of Infor- 
mation, no. I.) 

Joint author with John Johnston. Re- 
printed, Madison, Wis., December, 1906. 4p. 

[76] 



Bibliography 



Lewis and Clark: Discoverers of 
Empire. (In Christendom, i, 1902- 
03, pp. 520-527.) 

The Library as a Factor in Education 
[Address at the Dedication of Car- 
negie Library, Beloit College, Janu- 
ary 5, 1905.] (Beloit College Bulle- 
tin, iii, no. 2.) 

Reprinted, revised as "Address before the 
Indiana Library Association, at Muncie, 
October 19, 1905." (In Earlhamite, xii, 
1905, PP- 57-63-) 

Library of the State Historical So- 
ciety of Wisconsin. (In Library 
Journal, xxi, 1896, pp. 175, 176.) 
Reprinted in Library Journal^ Wisconsin 
Supplement, 1896, pp. 7, 8. Republished, 
with some changes, from "The Work of 
the Wisconsin Historical Society," in the 
Annals of lozva, 3d series, i, 1893-95, PP- 
258-265. 

Life and Manners in the Colonies: a 
Talk. (In Booklovers Reading Club 
Handbook, Course 21: American 
Foundation History, 1901, pp. 73- 
88.) 

I 77] 



Reuben Gold Thwaites 

Local History in the Library Story 
Hour. (In Library Journal, xxxii, 
1907, pp. 158, 159.) 

Local Public Museums in Wisconsin: 
Paper Read before a Joint Session 
of the Wisconsin Academy of Sci- 
ences, Arts, and Letters and the 
Wisconsin Archaeological Society, at 
Milwaukee, February 14, 1908. 
Madison, Wis., April, 1908. 24p. 
(Wisconsin Historical Society Bulle- 
tin of Information, no. 43.) 

Lord Dunmore's War, 1774: an 
Address delivered before the Society 
of Colonial Wars in the State of 
Michigan, May 17, 1910. Detroit, 
Mich., 191 1. 22p. 

Lyman C. Draper — the Western Plu- 
tarch. (In Magazine of Western 
History, v, 1886-87, pp. 335-350.) 
Reprinted with title: "Biographical 
Sketch of Lyman C. Draper" [Madison, 
Wis., 1887], 37p. Again, with changes, as 
"Lyman Copeland Draper — a memoir." 
(In Wisconsin Historical Society Proceed- 
ings, 1891, pp. 74-95.) {Same), Reprinted in 

[78] 



Bibliography 



Wisconsui Historical Collections, xli, 1892, 
pp. 1-22; also in Preface to Reprint edition, 
zW. i,pp.ix-xxix. (S^w.^), Reprinted, Madison 
Wis., 1892. 22p. Also Madison, Wis., 1903, 
pp. ix-xxix. This narrative is also reprinted 
in chap, viii, "The Draper Manuscripts," 
in How George Rogers Clark Won the North- 
west. 

Madison, the City of the Four Lakes. 
(In Powell, L. P. (ed.), Historic 
Towns of the Western States, 1901? 
pp. 235-264.) 

Also Introduction to the volume. Based 
on "Story of Madison" in University of 
Wisconsin, its History and its Alumni, 1900, 
pp. 3-41. 

Memorial Address: James Davie 
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Reprinted, Madison, Wis., 1907. [i4p.] 

Monument to Oshkosh. (In Oshkosh 
Times, June 3, 1888.) 

Revised and enlarged from "Oshkosh, the 
Last of the Menominee Sachems" in the 
same paper of April 22, 1876. 

[79] 



Reuben Gold Thwaites 

A New Discovery of a Vast Country 
in America, by Father Louis Henne- 
pin. Chicago, 1903. 2v. 
Edited by R. G. Thwaites. 

Newly Discovered Personal Records 
of Lewis and Clark. (In Scribner^s 
Magazine, xxxv, 1904, pp. 685-700.) 

New Voyages to North-America, by 
the Baron de Lahontan. Chicago, 
1905. 2V. 
Edited by R. G. Thwaites. 

Notable Gathering of Scholars. (In 
Independent, Ixviii, 19 10, pp. 7-14.) 
Report of the meeting of the American 
Historical Association, American Economic 

Association and other societies at New- 
York, December, 1909. 

Notes on Early Lead Mining in the 
Fever (or Galena) River Region. 
(In Wisconsin Historical Collections, 
xiii, 1895, pp. 271-292.) 

Reprinted, Madison, Wis., 1895. pp. 271- 
292. An abstract of these notes appeared 
in the Report of the American Historical 
Association for 1893. Republished, with 

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Reuben Gold T hw aite s 

Joseph Whitehouse, now for the 
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quarto and altas; also in edition de luxe, 
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hand after the manner of the originals, 
with atlas in fifteen volumes quarto." 

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94 



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